Two men trapped in an elevator are about to discover they have more in common than the inconvenience of lost time. Dr. Mason Grant recognizes Parker Collins, whom he had loved during their senior year in high school, but Parker does not immediately recognize Mason. Maybe it’s the passage of time that has dulled his memory ... or maybe it’s the wheelchair in which Mason is confined. As the two wait to be rescued, Mason recalls their six month love affair -- its uncertain beginning, its athletic highs both on and off the field, its romantic peacefulness spent at the Grant’s remote lake cabin, as well as its painful lows and horrific conclusion. The teenage Mason realized there were two sides to his lover -- the confident Parker, an athletic hero popular with both teammates and female students, and the private Parker, who is unsure, sexually submissive, and needs to be cuddled and petted. All Mason wanted then was for Parker to love him, and not diminish what they shared by giving in to the social pressures that demanded he play out the role of football jock and studly lady killer. Now that they’re grown men, what happens when Parker sees past Mason’s wheelchair and realizes who’s trapped in the elevator with him?

Trapped Nerves

The whole thing culminated in the football


game on Friday and the homecoming dance the day after. Mason


attended the game, eagerly anticipating a comfortable victory. The


Jackson High Volcanoes were consistently bottom of the league.


All was going to plan. The Falcon’s were


fourteen points ahead, when in the middle of the second quarter,


Henry, the first string quarterback, got sacked. He lay on the


ground and didn’t look as though he was getting up any time soon.


Mason knew Henry was a close bud of Parker’s, and sure enough,


Parker was one of the first to kneel down next to the prostrate


An ambulance was called. The paramedics


examined Henry before placing him on a stretcher and carrying him


off the field. The second-string quarterback did his best, but it


was obvious there wasn’t the same chemistry between the new guy and


the rest of the players. The lead that the Falcons had built up was


Chapter 27